An explosive report from the Iranian dissident group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) alleges that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s domestic airline, Iran Air, is providing support to the U.S. designated terror organization Hezbollah.

Citing a former Hezbollah member, the MEK said that flights between Iran and Beirut Airport in Lebanon often transferred Hezbollah personnel to Iran for training courses and “smuggle[d] food [and] light and medium weapons” into Lebanon. 

That transfer was alleged to have delivered advanced light weapons from Iran to Lebanon, particularly through runway 17, which it claims “exclusively” belongs to Hezbollah. In January 2021, a Hezbollah member alleged that shipments arriving at runway 17 included anti-aircraft missiles. 

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Jason Brodsky, policy director for United Against Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital that “Iran Air has a history of enabling procurement of Western products, particularly dual-use goods, for use by the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] IRGC and Iran’s Defense Ministry, through Europe to Iran routes.” Brodsky explained that Iran Air gets away with these transfers by using “carry-on luggage in European airport stopovers which do not require another security check.” Brodsky said that “Iran purposely uses such civilian flights as a shield to avoid kinetic targeting by its adversaries.”

The MEK also stated that public information and intelligence obtained from inside the IRGC and Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) shows that the MOIS “has systematically used Iran Air to move MOIS agents and their equipment for terrorist activities outside of Iran.” The MEK elaborated that Iran Air had transferred “shipments and packages necessary for activities of the MOIS in Europe to Austria” while “terrorist diplomat” Asadullah Assadi who was the MOIS station chief for Europe between 2015 and 2018. 

Assadi was sentenced to 20 years in a Belgian prison for his plot to bomb a National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) gathering in 2018. He was released in exchange for a Belgian aid worker, a Danish citizen and two dual Austrian-Iranian citizens in May and June 2023, according to Yahoo News.

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According to a former Hezbollah member, runway 17, circled in red, of Beirut Airport is used exclusively by Hezbollah. Iran Air uses the runway to transport small and medium arms and basic supplies into Lebanon. (Courtesy of PMOI/MEK)

MEK sources also issued a reminder of Iran Air’s historic ties to terror. As MEK reported, “most” of the 12 terrorists sent to Geneva to participate in an operation to assassinate Professor Kazem Rejavi, a human rights defender and member of the NCRI, on April 24, 1990, “were transported by Iran Air,” as were their weapons. The MEK alleges that the return Iran Air flight after the assassination had a “delayed departure from Geneva…so the terrorists could make the flight.” The Washington Post’s reporting from 1990 corroborates this claim.

The Treasury and State Departments sanctioned Iran Air on Sept. 10 on the basis of the shipments of equipment and aircraft parts it has provided to Russia. In its press release, the Treasury Department noted Iran Air’s “history of transporting goods on behalf of Iran’s [IRGC] and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech during a program held following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli attack and subsequent Iranian strikes at the Imam Khomeini Hussainiyah in Tehran, Iran, on Oct. 2, 2024. (Photo by Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The Treasury and State Departments did not respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiry about any known ties between Iran Air and Hezbollah. A spokesperson from the Treasury Department did emphasize that, per the new sanctions, “all property and interests in property of the persons above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to [the Office of Foreign Assets Control.]” 

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Following U.S. sanctions, France, the United Kingdom and Germany announced that they would likewise “cancel bilateral air services agreements with Iran,” and “will also work towards imposing sanctions on Iran Air.” 

Ali Safavi, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Paris-based NCRI, told Fox News Digital that “the clerical regime in Iran has strategically utilized the nation’s resources and recognized civil entities, including its national airline, to further its goals of domestic suppression and the international proliferation of terrorism and extremism.”

The MEK notes that senior IRGC-Qods Force Commander Brigadier General Rostam Ghasemi, who is subject to U.S. sanctions, appointed IRGC Brigadier General Shamseddin Farzadipour to be the head of Iran Air on April 25, 2022. Prior to this role, Farzadipour was the IRCH Air and Space Force aviation operations commander.

Israeli troops display Hezbollah weapons found in south Lebanon. (IDF Spokesman’s Unit)

Safavi said that Farzadipour’s appointment demonstrates “the airline’s alignment with [the IRGC’s] oppressive objectives,” which “blatantly contravenes established international laws and norms.”

Safavi has urged the international community to prohibit Iran Air from flying to its major hubs across Europe, and to designate the IRGC as a terror organization. He also called on the United Nations Security Council to reinstate sanctions against Iran.

When asked about the Hezbollah member’s allegations, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations told Fox News Digital that “The Islamic Republic of Iran remains actively involved in the provision of humanitarian assistance to Lebanon via multiple channels and has formally expressed its preparedness to extend medical aid and receive the wounded – a proposition duly accepted by the Government of Lebanon.” 

The spokesman claimed that “Lebanon is not in need of military support. The foremost and urgent priority must center upon the establishment of a ceasefire and the facilitation of relief efforts.”

The move comes as Republicans increasingly emphasise the chance of noncitizen voting, despite little evidence of any significant risk posed.

The United States Justice Department has sued Virginia for removing voters from registration rolls too close to the presidential election on November 5.

The lawsuit, filed on Friday, comes in response to an executive order issued in August by Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.

It initiated the removal of individuals from voter registration rolls if officials are “unable to verify that they are citizens” through the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles.

But the Justice Department says the executive order was issued with too little time before election day, violating a 90-day “quiet period” outlined in The National Voter Registration Act.

That period requires official systematic removals at least three months ahead of a federal vote.

“Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period restriction to prevent error-prone, eleventh-hour efforts that all too often disenfranchise qualified voters,” Assistant US Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement.

“The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy and the Justice Department will continue to ensure that the rights of qualified voters are protected.”

Youngkin had issued his order on August 7, which marked 90 days until the election. In a statement on Friday, the governor argued the executive order fell within the law.

“Virginians – and Americans – will see this for exactly what it is: a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections in the Commonwealth, the very crucible of American Democracy,” Youngkin said.

He pledged state authorities “will defend these common-sense steps, that we are legally required to take, with every resource available to us”.

“Virginia’s election will be secure and fair, and I will not stand idly by as this politically motivated action tries to interfere in our elections, period,” Youngkin said.

Republicans and allies of former President Donald Trump – the current Republican candidate for the presidency – have increasingly pushed unfounded claims of possible election malfeasance ahead of this year’s vote.

Those claims echo falsehoods spread about the 2020 election, which Trump has continued to falsely say was “stolen” through fraud.

Some Republican officials have also advanced baseless claims that noncitizens are voting in large enough numbers to affect the outcome. In the US, only citizens can vote.

Most voter administration is determined by state officials and legislatures, with only broad parameters from the federal government. Nearly all US states require some form of voter registration to cast a ballot, although many allow the registration to be done on election day.

Ahead of the 2024 elections, several states – including Texas, Tennessee, Ohio and Alabama – have passed measures requiring higher burdens of proof to show a voter’s citizenship. Democracy monitors said those efforts may disenfranchise US citizens who are otherwise eligible to vote.

The Brennan Center for Justice – a non-partisan policy organisation – found that noncitizen voting in the US is exceedingly rare. There is no evidence it had any bearing on recent elections.

In 2017, the centre released a study looking at 23.5 million votes cast in the 2016 general election.

Only 30 votes were flagged for suspected noncitizen voting. Data was not available on how many of those votes proved to have been cast by noncitizens.